Finance & Capital Management

Simon Property Group will expand several shopping centers in the United States, with plans to invest approximately $1 billion annually in renovations.

Indianapolis – Simon plans to expand several marquee properties in the U.S., investing approximately $1 billion annually to enhance its assets. The Mills at Jersey Gardens in Elizabeth, New Jersey, will submit plans for a major expansion, adding approximately 411,000-sq.-ft. of new outlet brands, dining and entertainment to its footprint of more than 200 stores and 1.3 million-sq.-ft.

Vancouver -- Fast-growing Canadian online footwear retailer Shoes.com has reported record first quarter. In its first quarterly financial report since consolidating three online businesses under one platform, the company reported an increase in gross revenue of 89% to $60 million and a 129% increase in revenue from repeat customers.

Gross profit margins remained robust at 44%.

Party City’s CEO says robust sales prompted an “impressive” increase in same store sales in the first quarter, the company’s first quarterly report after an April IPO.

Hhgregg President and CEO Dennis May played the “pleased with significant progress on transformation efforts” card after the company reported abysmal sales for its fourth quarter ended March 31.

The retailer said same store sales decreased 10%. Net sales decreased 9.8% to $485.6 million. Revenue dropped 10% to $485.6 million. The company had a loss of $25.2 million, or 91 cents a share, wider than its prior-year quarter loss of $7.2 million, or 25 cents a share.

Gainesville, Fla. - Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE:RGC) will open a 10-screen reserved-seating luxury theater at Celebration Pointe, a 225-acre, mixed-use regional development located in Gainesville, Florida. Celebration Pointe partner Ralph Conti made the announcement.

Little Rock, Ark. – Dillard’s Inc. had a disappointing first quarter of 2015, missing Wall Street expectations with both earnings and sales. Net income dropped 2% to $109.6 million, from $111.7 million a year earlier.

Net sales climbed to $1.57 billion, from $1.55 billion. Same-store sales and total merchandise sales outside the company’s construction business both fell 1%. Dillard’s plans to open three new stores in fiscal 2015, located in Utah, Louisiana and Ohio.

San Jose, Calif. – In one more sign the long-discussed eBay-PayPal split is really on its way, PayPal has announced it will trade on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the symbol “PYPL” once it is spun off from parent company eBay. PayPal was initially founded as an independent company in 1998 and joined eBay in 2002.

PayPal intends to become a platform for a world in which all commerce is performed digitally.